Continued from page 1
How do you structure payment? Different campaign types use different payment models. While a Duration Campaign is likely to charge a flat fee,
two other types mentioned above use CPM and CPC.
CPM (Cost Per thousand): CPM is used for Impression Campaigns and represents
cost per thousand impressions. For example, a website that charges $5,000 per banner and guarantees 250,000 impressions has a CPM of $20 ($5,000 divided by 250). You banner will run until
250,000 impressions are achieved, then it will be removed.
CPC (Cost Per Click): CPC is used for Click Campaigns and represents
amount you pay each time someone clicks on your ad. Some programs, like Google’s AdWords, provide a bidding system where you bid for a position on
page in terms of
maximum you are willing to pay to appear in that position. The actual price you pay is not determined until
page is displayed and
various bids are taken into account. If you pay in advance, your ad runs until
number of clicks you purchased is achieved, then
ad is removed. If you are billed monthly,
total clicks for
month are tallied then
amount of
charges billed to you.
How do you measure success? While every firm has their own benchmarks for measuring performance,
two metrics described below are commonly used.
Click Through Rate (CTR): CTR is
rate at which visitors click on an advertisement. It is usually calculated as a percentage of
ad impressions. If you are doing 0.2% or higher, you are doing well.
Conversion Rate: This metric refers to
rate at which users complete a sale or registration once they reach your site. Calculating conversion rates can be a bit of an art form, but if you tie your ads to pages that give clear links to
action you desire
visitor to take, for example registration for a newsletter or site membership, you can benchmark this with some accuracy.
Of course there is much more to
world of online advertising then this short list, but at least it is start. Online advertising has been growing up fast and it is now possible to find people who are fluent in buying for this media. Shop around and find a professional and you will benefit in
long run.
written by: Ric Shreves, http://www.waterandstone.com
